The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) released a statement on Wednesday, March 3, calling for the placement of mandatory warning labels on condoms saying "CONDOMS MAY FAIL TO PROTECT FROM AIDS AND OTHER SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES," reports the CBCP News, "in the same way that the government requires warnings for certain substances [like cigarettes and alcohol] the Department of Health (DOH) should also require a Government Warning for condoms." They also want a ban on condom ads "from television, radio, movies, newspapers, magazines, and public places, as they desensitize the youth's delicate conscience and weaken their moral fiber as future parents," said CBCP president Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar.
Odchimar further stated that instead of condom distribution, the DOH should instead use the taxpayers' money to focus on diseases such as diarrhea, bronchitis, pneumonia, tuberculosis, cancer, hypertension and influenza. "It is unjust that the taxes of the people including Catholics be used for purposes against their moral beliefs," the statement read.
Msgr. Pedro Quitorio, information officer of the CBCP, supported this by saying that condom distribution does not solve AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) but only "aggravates the problem," reports CBCP News.
Archbishop Oscar Cruz took it a step further when he told ABS-CBN News, "When [the DOH says] that condom promotes safe sex, it also promotes contra-human values. Marami: responsibility, promiscuity, and in fact it even also promotes the AIDS virus."
DKT Philippines, one of the condom distributors partnering with the DOH, contradicted the CBCP's statements stating that condom ads actually help educate the public about family planning, reports ABS-CBN News.
Jojo Ampeloquio, Head Product Manager DKT Philippines told ABS-CBN, "With regards to the efficacy of the condom, the World Health Organization, which is at the forefront of public health... has clearly pronounced [that]... the condom is the single best device that helps prevent HIV-AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases."
